


Lord of the Flies High

by lordofthegays (highlyfashionablesociopath)



Category: Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-30
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 10:47:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highlyfashionablesociopath/pseuds/lordofthegays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a series of LOTF drabbles set in a high school AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OI  
> SO SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS I LIKE STARTED COMING UP W THESE LITTLE HEADCANONS ABOUT LOTF IN A HIGH SCHOOL AU AND THEN IT LED TO THIS AND SO YEAH HERES SOME OF THE HEADCANONS I POSTED ABOUT THIS ON TUMBLR THEY MIGHT BE USEFUL WHILE READING
> 
> ralph, piggy, simon, and samneric are in the student council  
> ralphs the president, piggy is vp, simon is historian, and samneric are treasurer and secretary
> 
> jack, roger, maurice, and bill are a really trashy punkrock garageband called Kill the Beast  
> jack is lead singer, roger is on drums, maurice is guitarist, and bill is bassist
> 
> jack and ralph are both really popular with the student body  
> jack ran for president against ralph but lost
> 
> simon met jack when they were in choir together back in elementary school but simon had to quit due to his frequent fainting spells and jack quit to start his own band but they remained childhood friends and simon is the only mutual friend between jack and ralph so one time jack tried pulling a mean girls stunt and convinced simon to spy on ralph and report back to him but simon chickened out bc he felt guilty (i might write this one in the drabbles lmao idk)
> 
> samneric in high school to me are basically the hitachiin twins from ouran high school host club and when theyre together they start so much shit but when theyre seperated sams the more responsible and collected one and eric is still basically the same as when hes w sam
> 
> Kill the Beast and the student council sorta have an unspoken rivalry going on and simons trapped in the middle of it poor baby
> 
> jack writes a bunch of angsty songs about ralph and how fucking gay he is for him
> 
> ralph is the head of the soccer team
> 
> rogers like that emo kid who sits in the back of the class and flicks crumpled bits of paper at ralph and piggy (piggy tells the teacher on him constantly and got roger in detention once and roger made an oath to kill him one day)
> 
> roger and simon are like unlikely besties (to go along w the headcanon i saw in the lotf tags i loved it aw) and basically are moirails if u wanna go in homestuck terms
> 
> also  
> i post all of these on my blog first at  
> http://c-sharp-dick.tumblr.com/tagged/lotf-hs-au/  
> if you notice i havent updated this in a while, just check there ok

Jack stood at the bottom of his driveway, waiting for his bandmate Roger to give him a ride to school. The crisp autumn air filled his lungs. The first day was always a hassle, especially with deciding on what to wear. His normally wild hair was tamed and combed neatly to the side, much to his distaste. The suit he wore fit him uncomfortably, and he couldn’t wait to change clothes when he got to school. He really only wore the monkey suit to please his mother, who was always the type of mom to video tape their children’s first day of school, no matter how old they are. He looked back towards his house, and sure enough, she was there with her camera. He smiled and sighed fondly at her before the sound of an engine called his attention back to watching the road. Roger’s ‘67 Chevrolet Impala made its way down the road to where Jack stood, blaring their band’s own soundtrack through the rolled-down windows. Roger motioned for him to get in, and with a wave back to his mom, Jack obeyed. Roger gave Jack a once-over before bursting into laughter.

“Oh, oh dude. You look like a middle schooler at his first dance. I’m gonna have to ask your mom for that video. This is priceless,” Roger quipped between laughter. Jack flipped him off.

“Shut up, man. I’m changing when we get to school anyway,” he grumbled. Roger just snickered more.

The two talked about what they did over the summer until they came to pick up their third band member, Maurice. He was dressed worse than Jack, causing the two in the car to howl with laughter. Maurice just grinned and shrugged.

“Hey, new year, new me, right?” Maurice sniggered.

“Yeah, right. You’re just gonna be as bad as last year,” Jack smirked. Maurice only shrugged, and the three laughed again.

Finally, the trio came to their fourth and final band member, Bill. Bill was dressed more casually than Jack and Maurice, but still not as careless as Roger (who had chosen to wear their own band’s t-shirt, and a pair of purple skinny jeans, by the way.) Bill had a simple button-down shirt and khakis on, not much different than his normal appearance. The only thing that had changed about him was that his hair was parted differently. The boys in the car didn’t find much humor in his apparel, but made fun of him anyway for dressing normally. Bill just snickered and went along with it.

The four caught up on what they did over the summer, which girls(or guys – some of the members were known to swing both ways) looked the hottest in their vacation photos that they posted on social media, information on upcoming concerts in town, their high scores on Flappy Bird, and a bunch of other random bits of conversation.

Maurice, apparently, had gotten a girlfriend over the summer while on vacation to Disney World in Florida. It didn’t last long. She dumped him after he threw up on her on one of the roller coasters.

Roger learned the drum line to Back in Black by AC/DC. This earned a round of applause from all of the boys, and a pat on the back from Jack.

Jack himself had been working on a few new songs for the band, but he didn’t want to share any details of _that_. ( ~~most of the songs he wrote were about a certain fair haired student council president and his borderline obsession with him~~ ) Instead, he decided to tell the boys of his adventures at his part-time job at McDonald’s. He hated the food there, but the regulars who came in were pretty interesting, to say the least.

Bill told them of his time at Lake Eerie, Pennsylvania and how he went camping on the beach after going to Cedar Point. He got a girlfriend there, too. Except his relationship with her is much more stable than Maurice’s experience at Disney.

When they finally pulled up at school, their latest album blasting through the open windows, everyone looked at them with a mixture of disbelief, amazement, and secondhand embarrassment.

The four climbed out of the car, grabbing their bags and books and headed into the school.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep. Beep. Beep. Ralph’s alarm rang. Drowsily, he hit the snooze button before remembering that school started today. Immediately, he shot out of bed and got dressed in the suit he had laid out the night before, which fit him well. He quickly combed his hair, grabbed his bag, and rushed downstairs to make himself breakfast. The house was silent, other than from the noise of pots and pans he was making in the kitchen. His mom had left, his dad was overseas, and his sister had spent the night at a friend’s house, who had promised her a ride to school. The two siblings stayed with their grandparents, who were still asleep upstairs. Ralph was made careful not to wake them while he made his chocolate chip pancakes.

Not too far down the street, Simon was getting ready as well. His long, floppy hair framed his face handsomely, and he wore the hand-me-down suit his older brother had given him. The sleeves were a little too long, but otherwise, he looked presentable. His mom had already made him breakfast – waffles in the shape of Scooby-Doo’s head. He silently apologized to Scooby before cutting his face up and eating it. Grinning wide after the meal, he thanked his mom and slung his bag over his shoulder, rushing out to wait for the bus.

Down the street, the next right after the stop sign, and three houses down on the left, Sam and Eric were still sleeping in. When their alarm rang again after hitting the snooze button at least three times, Sam nudged his brother.

“Wake up,” he whispered. Eric grunted, and finally hit the dismiss button on his phone alarm. Rubbing the sleepiness out of both their eyes, they got dressed in synchronization. They wore matching suits, their hair parted in opposite directions. Once they were done with their business upstairs, they slid downstairs on the railing, crashed at the bottom, and raced off to the kitchen. The two were surprisingly energetic for so early in the morning, even after sleeping in for fifteen minutes. Their father was already waiting for them downstairs, watching the news. After getting themselves some cereal – Lucky Charms for Sam and Cinnamon Toast Crunch for Eric – they finally took a break to rest on the couch to watch it with him. After watching a special report on some sort of weird real-life Barbie doll, it was time for the twins to head out to their bus stop.

Directly across the street, Piggy was already up bright and early, thanks to his auntie’s wakeup call. He enjoyed a breakfast of a cinnamon roll and some chocolate milk, got dressed in a plain button-down and jeans, then plopped down to watch some Monday morning television. There wasn’t much on this early in the morning, except for some old cartoons on Cartoon Network. He paused on those, deciding there’s nothing else decent to watch, and laughed along with his auntie to the adventures of Bugs Bunny. Piggy had always enjoyed cartoons, especially the old ones. They brought back fond memories of being little and waking up bright and early, just as he was right now, every Saturday morning to watch them with his sister before she went off to medical school. He sighed at the memory before looking at the clock and deciding it was about time to head down to the bus stop to meet Sam and Eric.

Ralph and Simon were already seated together on the bus by the time the other three got on. Sam and Eric took the seat directly across from them, with Piggy in the front of them.

The group greeted each other with their murmurs of “good morning,” some more energetically than others. Simon looked like he was about to fall back asleep, Ralph and Piggy were still rubbing tiredness out of their eyes, and Sam and Eric were practically bouncing in their seats. They caught up on what they did over the summer, inquired each other on if any of them knew when the first student council meeting was(which, oddly enough, they were all on), their summer reading assignments(that conversation was mainly between Ralph and the twins – they were in advanced English; Piggy and Simon took up advanced chemistry), and other random bits of conversation.

Ralph had apparently gone to England over the summer to visit relatives. He pulled out a few trinkets from his bag and handed them out to each of them, much to their liking and thanks. Simon didn’t travel too far, only to the lake nearby. He told the boys of the huge fish his dad caught, and how he helped to reel it in. A proud grin occupied his face as he told the tale. Sam and Eric had gone to Warped Tour, and told them they saw the Kill the Beast band members there as well. This earned looks of disgust from all the boys, except for Simon. Poor Simon was always caught in between of the feud between the two gangs. Piggy didn’t have much to say. He couldn’t really go anywhere. He was always tied to his auntie’s sweet shop. He helped to run the store whenever she felt too unwell to do it herself. He did, however, tell them of the delicious batch of cookies he had helped her make the other day.

After a conversation over which girls (and guys – some of the student council members were also known to swing both ways) looked the hottest in their summer vacations photos they had posted on social media, the bus finally stopped at their school. Just as they were walking in to the building, they heard the familiar blasting of Kill the Beast’s distasteful music pulling up as well. The looks of disgust the boys had on before returned to their faces, and they hurried in to the building before they had the chance to confront the others


	3. Chapter 3

The one thing the student council and Kill the Beast had in common was that lunch time was their favorite part of the school day. Most of the student council had lunch together – namely Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric. Simon, however, was in the lunch period before them with the Kill the Beast band members. Not that he minded. Surprisingly enough, he had some history with them before they all entered the crazy world known as high school. Simon, Jack, and Roger used to be in middle school choir together, before Simon had to quit due to his frequent fainting spells and Jack and Roger left to start their own band. The three still remained friends, but no friendship could possibly rival the one between Roger and Simon. It would appear highly unlikely to anyone outside of the loop that those two seemingly complete opposites could be so close, but that was the beauty of it. It had all started back when Roger first transferred to their school in sixth grade. It didn’t take long for the boy to get in a fight, and it didn’t take long for Simon to attempt to keep the peace. A black eye, a broken nose, and a sprained wrist later, Simon was practically begging Roger not to fight anymore. Whether he was moved by Simon’s genuine worry or just amused by it, nobody really understood, but Roger agreed nonetheless. If it wasn’t for Simon, Roger probably would have been expelled by now.

The two were at Simon’s locker as the student council member shuffled through his locker looking for his lunch money.

“You know, if you need cash, I can just lend you some,” Roger offered with a raised eyebrow. Simon smiled and shook his head.

“No, thanks. I found my money.” He waved a five dollar bill around in the air. Roger jokingly made a grab at it, and Simon pulled away, making Roger fall awkwardly on him. Roger waggled his eyebrows suggestively at their position, causing Simon to laugh and punch him lightly in the arm. To any bystander, this would seem incredibly gay, and maybe it was, but the thought never really occurred to either of them.

They walked to the lunch room together and plopped down at their designated table, where Jack, Maurice, and Bill were already waiting and eating their lunches. It looked like they missed something important too, judging from the grapes everywhere.

“’Bout time you two showed up. You totally just missed Maurice trying to find out how many grapes he could shove up his nose,” Bill greeted them with a grin. They all looked at Maurice, who snickered at the memory. Other than Simon, Maurice was the youngest at the lunch table. They were both sixteen, with the others being seventeen. Roger and Simon chuckled at the mental image of Maurice and the grapes, causing the other boys to laugh as well. Well, all except for Jack. It looked like he was in another one of his moods. Ralph related, probably. Simon slid down next to him.

“You okay, Jack?” He inquired.

Jack grunted. “It’s that dumb fucking Ralph again.” So Simon’s suspicions were confirmed. Suddenly, Jack looked over at Simon and sighed. “Sorry. I know he’s your friend, but I can’t fucking stand him. Him and his dumbshit pretty boy-ness and his smartness and everyone just likes him! How?! He’s so…so-“

“Sooo irresistible?” Maurice finished for him. Jack made a face.

“No, dumbass. He’s just. Ugh. That’s it. He’s ugh.”

Bill poked his side. “Dude, you’re so gay for him.” Jack swatted at his hand, but didn’t deny anything, causing the rest of the table to grin.

“Jack and Ralph, sitting in a tree, f-u-c-k-i-n-g!” They sang mockingly. Jack just hid his head in his hands and groaned. Simon patted his back sympathetically. He knew since they first became friends that Jack had a sort of rivalry with Ralph, almost to the point of obsession. Simon figured it was just out of admiration for each other, but he also figured neither party would willingly admit that. To be honest, he was used to hearing from both sides complaining about the other, and he was never tired of trying to help them understand their feelings. Simon was just too good of a friend to let either of them down.

A few mocking implications about Ralph and Jack later, the bell finally rang for lunch to end. Simon and Roger were the last two at the table as they said their good-byes. Simon hung around until Ralph and the others came to their lunch, then after a few quick greetings, he head up to his own class.


	4. Chapter 4

Study hall was probably Ralph’s least favorite period in the day. It would’ve been nice – after all, he had time to himself for once to read or finish homework. The only part that ruined everything for him was that Jack fucking Merridew was also in his study hall. That stupid ginger was always causing a disruption in class, and it was even worse when Roger decided to drop by whenever he got bored with his own study hall and throwing bits of paper at Piggy. When he came down to their study hall, he threw bits of paper at Ralph instead. Ralph typically would ignore it, and Roger would typically get bored and give up and go back to drawing some stupid trashy comics him and Jack came up with sometimes. Today, however, seemed different. Roger was nowhere in sight, and Jack was unusually quiet. Ralph looked around the room for him, and found the boy in question sitting in the corner and reading. Ralph squinted to see the title. Lord of the Rings? Ohh, and it was The Fellowship of the Ring, too. Ralph’s favorite. He watched Jack’s expression as he read, extremely focused and seemingly in a whole other world. Ralph grinned, and did something he never thought he would do before. He was going to try to have an actual discussion with Jack fucking Merridew. He got up, leaving his books at his seat, figuring he wouldn’t be gone for very long, and sat down next to him. Jack didn’t even seem to notice. He didn’t even notice when Ralph began reading over his shoulder.

“Oh man, I love this part,” Ralph said. Jack nearly jumped. Instead, he just frowned in confusion at the blond sitting next to him.

“What do you want?” He accused. Ralph shrugged.

“Bored. Saw you reading. That’s my favorite book, you know.” Jack raised an eyebrow at the response, but didn’t question him further. He went back to reading. Ralph poked his shoulder.

“If you need the other books, I can lend you them. Y’know, as long as you promise to keep them in good condition.” Jack put his book down and stared at him.

“Why are you talking to me?”

“I told you. I’m bored and saw you reading.”

Jack shook his head. “No, I mean, why are you being nice to me?”

Ralph smirked. “What, am I not allowed?”

Jack just looked confused at him, causing Ralph’s smirk to grow. Jack hated that smirk. He looked so handsome whenever he smirked. He wanted to punch his handsome smirking face. He accidentally found himself staring at Ralph’s smirking lips. Ralph tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

“See something you like, Merridew?” He cooed. Jack didn’t know if he wanted to makeout with him right then or punch him. He decided on neither. He just rolled his eyes and played along with it.

“Yeah. You know, you’re kinda pretty for a guy, Folley. I just wanna braid your hair and give you a flower crown.”

Ralph laughed. “If you give me a flower crown, I will proudly wear it down the halls.” Jack raised an eyebrow.

“You serious?”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“Alrighty then, Flower Boy. One flower crown comin’ right up.” Jack snickered, and Ralph joined him.

Moments like this were extremely rare, where two people from the rivaling cliques (besides Simon, of course) got along. It was even more rare that those two people were Jack and Ralph. The girls in the study hall watched the pair intently, seemingly half-expecting for the two to suddenly put aside all of their differences and hook up. Everyone knew the two of them were bisexual, and they both leaned more heavily on the homo than the hetero side of things. So when things like this happen, it doesn’t take much for rumors started by crazed teenaged girls to spread around the school. It’s surprising what a simple “OMG Ralph and Jack are talking!!” text to a friend can lead to. Soon, the whole school was made aware that the two ring leaders got on in that single moment of bliss. At the end of the day, Jack confronted Ralph at his locker. He slammed a fist on the wall beside him, towering over the shorter male. Ralph looked up at him quizzically.

“What do you want, Merridew? Got my flower crown?” He smirked. That stupid fucking smirk again. Jack frowned.

“Yeah, no. Forget the flower crown. Sorry, but what happened today was a fluke. I’m still gonna beat you one of these days, Folley. And when I do, you’ll be sorry.” And with that threat, Jack walked off with his bag slung over his shoulder, leaving a very confused Ralph still standing by his locker. Jack felt bad, he really did, but if the school started absolutely true rumors of him having a thing for Ralph, he would never be able to live it down.

All is fair in love and war, he figured as he met up with the band at the parking lot.


	5. Chapter 5

Freshman year. Sucks, doesn’t it? For most, it meant getting used to a whole new building that’s even bigger than the building that they just got done getting used to. It meant upperclassman constantly harassing them. It meant being constant victims to the seniors’ pranks. It meant having a slim to none chance of getting a lead in the school plays. But most importantly to Jack Merridew, it meant that high school student council elections were coming up. He was aiming for president this year, and he didn’t plan on anyone getting in his way. For as long as he could remember, he was always the go-to guy. Him and his best friends just started a band the year before that he was the lead singer of. Everyone loved Jack. You couldn’t get any cooler than that, right?

Well, obviously, you can. By being British as well as being the captain of the middle school rugby team the year before. It wasn’t like Ralph Folley and Jack Merridew weren’t friends. In fact, they had gotten along pretty well in middle school – even Ralph and Roger were on the borderline of acquaintanceship and friendship at one point. Of course, Ralph was friends with everyone. Everyone loved Ralph, too. But everything changed when the candidates were announced on the first day of freshman year. The loudspeaker boomed through the classrooms, calling off each position on the council and who was running for what.

“And finally, the candidates this year for your freshmen student council president are…” Candidates? More than one? As far as Jack knew, he was running unopposed. He frowned at the general direction of the ceiling where the speaker was at. “Jack Merridew and Ralph Folley!”

Jack couldn’t believe it. Ralph was running against him? He sat back in his chair and huffed, paying no mind to the applause that was ringing through the classroom for him. He glared across the room at Roger, who just looked at him and shrugged. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he was going to need help running his campaign if he wanted to beat that British asshole. Roger was just the guy he needed. Roger could crush anyone in his way, and Jack always admired that about him.

The next day, posters and flyers were abundant throughout the hallways. Ralph’s campaign posters were creative. The main image on his posters were pictures of him in an actual Uncle Sam costume, assuming Uncle Sam’s iconic pose and pointing at the camera. Underneath, a caption said in bright and bold letters: WE WANT YOU TO VOTE FOR RALPH FOLLEY AS FRESHMEN STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT!

The posters definitely got him a lot of publicity. He even wore his costume to school.

Jack’s approach was a little different. He made a few Napoleon Dynamite references, hanging around junky looking posters saying “VOTE FOR PEDRO JACK MERRIDEW.” This earned a lot of laughs from students passing through the hallway.

While Ralph ran his campaign with an air of professionalism and wit, Jack ran his with arrogance and overconfidence.

Ralph handed out little buttons and flyers with pieces of candy attached to get votes. Jack and Roger and the rest of Kill the Beast (even if they were pretty lousy sounding back then) attempted to put on a concert in the football field to rally up support before they got shut down by the principal.

The competition was extremely close. In fact, it seemed as if the entire grade was completely divided in support. And here, election day came. It was time for whoever was running to make their speeches, and then everyone would go back to their homeroom and fill out a balled on who they wanted to vote for. The candidates for the other positions went first. It looked like Piggy was running for vice-president, (Of course he was, Jack thought. The fatass is always trying to get close to Ralph.) Simon was running unopposed for historian, Sam was running for treasurer, and Eric was running for secretary.

“Holy shit. I’m running against Ralph’s entire crew,” Jack whispered to himself as the realization hit him. The only one he didn’t mind winning was Simon, and he was a guaranteed win anyway. The rest of them could go to hell for all Jack cared. He was so busy scowling at Piggy while he was giving his speech that it made him jump when he heard a voice from the seat beside him. “Hey, no matter which one of us wins, no hard feelings, right?” Ralph whispered. Jack flashed him a fake smile. “Of course.”

Finally, the candidates for freshmen student council president were called on stage. The sound of applause filled the auditorium as Ralph and Jack climbed up on stage. Jack went up to the podium to give his speech first. He looked for Roger in the audience to give him some encouragement. Seeing him give a thumbs up, Jack cleared his throat to begin his speech.

“Hey, guys. You know,” Jack grabbed the microphone from the podium and began pacing around the stage as he gave his speech. The arrogance was practically radiating off of him. “You all should really vote for me. I’ll promise to put on concerts every week before school starts, featuring my band, Kill the Beast!” He waited for his supporters to quiet down before continuing on. “Which, I’m the lead singer of, by the way. So I know how to lead people. If you vote for me, I promise a free bag of Doritos with every lunch, and to get that slushee machine so many people have been asking if we could get.” More applause. Jack was on a roll. He grinned, wrapping it up. “A vote for Jack Merridew is a vote for fun! Rock on, North Lakes High School!” He made a peace sign and strided off stage.

When the applause died down, Ralph stepped up to the stand. He didn’t look nearly as confident as Jack, which may be a good thing, but he still kept his composure. He grabbed the microphone and tapped it to make sure it’s on. When he had everyone’s attention, he began.

“Uhh, hey everyone,” he began. Cheers from his supporters filled the room. He smiled and continued. “I’m not gonna stand up here and make empty promises. But I can promise you one thing. If there’s a job that needs to be done, I’m the one you need to do it. I mean, I like slushees and free Doritos as much as anyone, but what it comes down to isn’t about a popularity contest. It’s about who’s more fit for the job.” Jack glared at Ralph from his place offstage. Ralph shot him an apologetic look and went on. “Not to say that Jack isn’t qualified! He’s definitely the best opponent I could ask for. In fact, if I do lose today, I’m glad that Jack is the one who will take over.” More cheering. Jack could see Ralph was even starting to win over some of his supporters. That won’t do. At this rate, he was sure to lose. If looks could kill, Ralph would’ve dropped dead already. Jack hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of his speech, but it looked like Ralph was done now. He walked offstage to take his place next to Jack and held out his hand for a handshake. Jack glared at it, then finally took it and probably squeezed it harder than necessary. Ralph winced a little, but smiled at him anyway.

Finally, it was time for the assembly to wrap up. The principal took to the podium and dismissed everyone back to their classes to vote for who they wanted. The announcement wouldn’t come until the end of the day.

When it finally did come, the loudspeaker boomed throughout the halls and classrooms. The upperclassmen were announced first.

“And finally, your freshmen student council officers are…Sam Martin as treasurer, Eric Martin as secretary, Simon Gallagher as historian, Gary Piggnet as vice-president, and…”

Jack frowned at the list of names. Of course Ralph’s damn crew won the damn elections. But he still had a shot. He listened in anticipation for the final name to be called.

“Ralph Folley as president!”

Jack drowned out the repulsive sound of applause. All he could think about was how he was going to get back at Ralph for this. Some day, somehow, he would get his revenge on Ralph for stealing his rightful presidency.


	6. Chapter 6

It started after band practice when everyone else in Kill the Beast left Roger’s house except for Jack. That wasn’t unusual, though. Jack was always the last one to leave. The two boys sat in Roger’s living room, Jack on the recliner with the remote and Roger laying down on the sofa with a Monster, half paying attention to what was on the television. Jack carelessly flipped through the channels, finding nothing of interest to watch. Amazing how that works, huh? Two hundred channels and nothing ever seems to be on. Finally, he stopped on the E!, and it looked like Mean Girls was playing. He sort of half paid attention to it, more often than not checking his Facebook on his phone and talking to Roger than watching the actual movie. It wasn’t until Janis, Damien, and Cady started plotting Regina George’s downfall that he started paying attention.

Regina George is an evil dictator. And how do you overthrow a dictator? You cut off her resources. Regina would be nothing without her high-status man-candy, technically good physique, and her ignorant band of loyal followers.

Jack snapped to attention, setting his phone down, which earned a silent eyebrow raise from the occupant on the sofa. Jack shushed him, even though he wasn’t talking, and began to think.

“Dude…Dude! That’s it!” Jack exclaimed.

“What’s it?” Roger tried as hard as he could to sound interested.

“We should get Simon to spy on Ralph, and then he could report back to us on all the shitty things he says!”

Roger propped himself up on the sofa and stared hard at Jack, his expression unreadable. “Man, I know you want to believe Ralph has some sort of evil ulterior motives, but I don’t think he’s capable of even flipping someone off. He’s too…nice.” Roger made a face as the word rolled off his tongue. Jack frowned at him.

“Nah man, Simon’s the nice one. Ralph is only nice on the surface. Little British prick thinks he has this whole school fooled by his dumb British gentlemenness,” he grumbled. Roger sighed and raised his hands in defeat.

“Alright, fine. Do whatever you want, but don’t come crying to me when you embarrass yourself,” he paused for a moment. “And if you fucking put fucking Simon in fucking danger like the fucking dumbass you are, I’ll fucking kick your fucking ass.”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Looks like someone owes eight bucks to the Swear Jar.”

The Swear Jar, for readers’ reference, was put into place by Roger’s mom, when she overheard a practice one day and was mortified by the band’s language. For every time they swore, they owed a dollar to the jar. It was a modest living, but the jar always managed to be overflowing by the end of the week and was “put towards Roger’s college fund – might as well make something useful out of dirty habits,” according to his mom.

Roger sneered and dug into his pants pocket for his wallet, pulling out the money and shoving it into the jar on the coffee table. Jack figured there was probably about $50 in there right now. No doubt it would double by the weekend.

At school the next day, Jack confronted Simon with the plan. Simon thought he was joking at first. It wasn’t until he caught his breath from laughing so hard that he saw Jack scowling at him did he realize he was being serious.

“I don’t know, Jack. I’ve been friends with Ralph since the seventh grade. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have some sort of ‘secret dark side’ like you think he does. I think he’s just genuinely a nice guy.” Simon shrugged timidly. Jack scowled at him more until he finally agreed.

And so, the plan was put into place. Every day, Simon would sit with Ralph on the bus and hang around him whenever he could. After school, he would meet up with Jack and dish up whatever Ralph said that Simon thought might be important. Granted, this scheme didn’t last very long before Simon backed out, feeling too guilty to continue after the second day even though the information he fed Jack wasn’t even anything bad. Jack, after much bruiting and pouting and huffing, walked over to Roger’s house after school to complain.

“I told you, dumbass,” was the first thing the dark haired boy said to the ginger when he walked in the door. Jack flipped him off and plopped down on the couch next to him, angrily stuffing a fistful of Goldfish crackers that were in a bowl on the table into his mouth. Roger laughed at him, causing Jack to punch him in the arm. They wrestled playfully on the couch for a bit before they ended up falling asleep tangled in each other’s arms. When they woke up about an hour later, they pulled away awkwardly and brushed themselves off.

“No homo?” Jack’s voice cracked.

“No homo,” Roger nodded in agreement.


	7. Chapter 7

To any new student walking down the hallways of North Lakes High School, seeing the tall, dark, and handsome Simon always hanging out with the short, pale, and rocker Roger would be truly the eighth wonder of the world. However, the story of how those two met and became friends might be an even bigger wonder. It all started back on the first day of middle school choir practice. Simon and Jack, as with all their classes, stuck to the back of the room, hoping to avoid socializing with their classmates. Not that they were socially awkward; Simon loved people, but due to his epilepsy, he feared that people might not love him back as much. Jack just stuck with Simon as friends do when they’re first placed in a classroom with unfamiliar people. The two were talking about the day’s events, comparing the middle school life to the elementary school life and how they couldn’t wait to make it to high school, when the bell rang. The choir teacher sat up from her desk, introducing herself, then began taking role. When Simon’s and Jack’s names were called, they both indicated their presence respectively. The names being called all sounded familiar, except one.

“Roger Jaeger?” The sweet, melodic voice of Ms. Henderson called out.

“Here,” came the muttered reply from the corner of the room. Ms. Henderson smiled at him and kept taking role.

Roger Jaeger? That’s a cool name. He doesn’t look like he has any friends…He must be new here. Simon looked on at the newcomer, evaluating him. Maybe I’ll be his friend. The back then short boy smiled to himself.

After the teacher went over basic classroom rules, she handed out papers to the students that she called “ice breakers.” She instructed each of them to get together with someone they didn’t know very well, and ask them the questions on their sheets. It was supposedly to help them make new friends with common interests. Simon immediately went up to Roger, after making sure Jack found a partner first.

“Hullo,” Simon beamed, waving the paper around in Roger’s face. “Wanna be my partner?”

Roger simply shrugged at him.

“Sure.”

Simon smiled, then began reading off the questions on his sheet, listening with interest to each of Roger’s responses. He learned that Roger was learning to play the drums from his uncle, he moved here over the summer from Ohio, and his favorite activity was riding his bike. Simon also liked riding his bike. He invited Roger to go bike riding with him sometime at the park, and hesitantly, Roger agreed. There was one question at the end that tripped them both up a little.

What’s something you think people might not like about you?

It was a simple question, most students just laughed it off with answers like “I’m way too funny.” But for Simon and Roger, they both stared at it with anxiety.

Finally, Simon spoke up.

“I…have epilepsy. Technically, I really shouldn’t be taking choir, but I really love to sing.” He smiled sheepishly at Roger, who was still staring at the question on the worksheet. After a moment, he nodded, and cleared his throat.

“I get in fights a lot. That’s why I moved here. I got kicked out of my old school. They told me I need something called ‘anger management,’” Roger admitted. Simon pursed his lips, nodding. “But that’s when Daddy told them to go fuck themselves,” the pale boy added. Simon’s eyes went wide. 

“You said a bad word!” He whispered. Roger smirked and shrugged, causing Simon to giggle.

However unlikely it was, the two formed an immediate friendship after that day. Jack really took to Roger, too. They formed an unstoppable trio, but Simon and Roger were the dynamic duo. Wherever Simon went, Roger went, and vice versa.

As the years went by, the boys got older, but their friendship remained strong. And friendship that long and that close between two boys? Obviously, something has to be up, at least according to the rest of the student body.

It seemed like a normal day in the hallway in eighth grade. Simon happened to be walking alone between that class period because Roger went a different way than him to his next class. And that seemed like the perfect opportunity for some stupid moron with nothing better to do to slam him into the lockers.

“Hey, faggot. Where’s your boyfriend?” The taller, mean boy said. Simon swallowed hard, trying to get away from his hold.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered. The other boy laughed obnoxiously in his face.

“Yeah, right. You’re not so tough without your big bad boyfriend here to save you, huh?” He laughed again. They were starting to draw a crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, Simon could see someone getting a teacher. He remained where he was, like a deer in headlights, which just made the other boy laugh again. Simon was taken by surprise when the obnoxious laughter was suddenly cut off, the boy who was holding him against his will on the ground with Roger standing over him, kicking him in the side. Roger was shouting something. Simon made it out to be something along the lines of “LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU FILTHY SON OF A BITCH!”

The other boy found a chance to lift himself off the ground, and punched Roger square in the face. Roger stumbled back a little, but before he had a chance to retaliate, Simon grabbed his arm.

“Roger! Stop, please! I’m alright, okay? Leave him alone!”

It took a moment, but Roger lowered his fist, and the other boy scrambled away. Both boys were trembling, and Simon could’ve sworn Roger looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Roger mumbled with a shaky breath. Simon smiled, pulling him into a hug. He didn’t need to say anything, because nothing needed to be said. Roger knew Simon already forgave him, and as long as they have each other, they’d be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

It’s a pretty well-known fact that gym class is probably the most dreaded class for most students. Being forced to exercise is never fun, especially when normally the most exercise you get in a day is walking to your fridge. However, there is always a handful of students in each class that actually make an effort. Ralph Folley, student council president and MVP of the North Lakes High School soccer team, is one of them. Jack Merridew, lead singer of the punkrock garageband Kill the Beast, is not. And it just so happened that these two opposites shared a gym class, along with, oddly enough, all of their friends.

It was an interesting thing to watch. Whenever Jack wouldn’t cut class like he usually does, Ralph would make an effort to try and get him to participate rather than him just standing in the corner; throwing him the ball, etc. Whether this be because he wants to humiliate Jack (Which usually happens – once when they were playing basketball, Ralph tossed Jack the ball for him to make a hoop. He didn’t.) is unknown. Jack hated Ralph for it, and either Ralph didn’t notice or he didn’t care. Either way, tensions always rise between the two by the end of the period.

There is, however, one good thing that Jack takes from gym. And that would be the showers. Not that the water actually felt nice. There were only two temperatures – the fires of Hell or Winter Wonderland. On the other hand, Ralph did look awfully nice with wet hair. Jack watched him out of the corner of his eye, trying his best not to seem obvious. He stood close to Roger, who always made a scene during the gym showers. Normally it would be him rolling his towel up and whipping all the social outcasts with it. And it looked like that was what he was about to do to a certain asthmatic fat boy who was standing alone in the corner shower. Jack watched amused as Roger made his way over, stalking the boy like a predator stalking its prey. When the dark haired boy finally raised his hand to whip the other, Ralph called out in warning. Piggy turned around and gasped, flinching away just before the towel could hit him. Roger fumed and stalked off back towards his spot in the showers between Jack and Simon. Simon started giving Roger a lecture on why he shouldn’t be so rowdy all the time because he could get hurt, and Roger responded by whipping him on the ass with his towel instead. Simon huffed and went back to washing his hair. Across the room, Maurice and Bill were also whipping each other with their towels. Except that Maurice was bent over and Bill was slapping him on the ass with it, both of them laughing hysterically like they just told the funniest fucking joke. In the other corner, the twins were showering. They watched everything going on with a little amusement. Their eyes always had a mischievous gleam about them, especially during gym showers. They were currently plotting a way to strategically place a bar of soap so Jack would slip on it in front of Ralph. One of them, Eric, casually placed the soap a little ways away from Ralph while Jack was watching Roger sneak up on Piggy. They figured he would be too distracted by the blond showering to notice it on the floor. When Eric retreated, the brothers fistbumped each other and laughed, waiting for their plan to get put into action. It didn’t take long at all. After Jack stopped pretending to not be staring at Ralph, he went into the main locker room to retrieve his clothes. He was still subtly watching the blond when he felt something slippery under his foot, and it was all over from there. He yelled and fell hard on his rump, right next to the boy he was just staring at, who was now staring at him like he just grew a third eye. Before Ralph could offer to help, Jack was back on his feet and ranting at no one in particular about why the hell some people just leave their soap on the floor and scurried into the other room. There was a moment of silence before almost all of the occupants burst into laughter. Sam and Eric were holding on to each other, tears in their eyes from the success of their plan. Ralph noticed and scowled at them, figuring out they were the ones who put the soap there, and they quickly shut up.


End file.
